DREF National Reading Circle Summer Reading List 2023

This summer, enjoy fun in the sun, a cool drink and a good book!  DREF encourages you to enjoy exploration and enlightenment through books written by African American authors.

Fiction

  • The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
  • Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
  • Forty Acres: A Thriller by Dwayne Alexander Smith
  • A Right Worthy Woman: A Novel by Ruth P. Watson
  • Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
  • The First Ladies Victoria Christopher Murray and Marie Benedict

Non-Fiction

  • Black Fortunes by Shomari Wills
  • Fruitful Living: God Has A Plan, Your Goodness Is Worth It by Vanessa D. Boyer
  • Share My Life by Kem with David Ritz
  • Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by Camille T. Dungy
  • A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till by Rev. Wheeler Parker, Jr. and Christopher Benson
  • Belonging: A Daughter’s Search for Identity Through Loss and Love by Michelle Miller

Young Adult

  • Afrotistic by Kala Allen Omeiza
  • Slay by Brittney Morris
  • The Davenports by Krystal Marquis
  • The Life I’m In by Sharon G. Flake
  • Piecing Me Together by Renee; Watson
  • Those Who Saw The Sun by Jaha Nailah Avery

Children’s

  • One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
  • CROWNED: Magical Folk and Fairy Tales from The Diaspora by Kahran and Regis Bethencourt
  • Can I Help You Cook? By Tia Gilliam-Wilson
  • My Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams by Ava Holloway and Amanda Lynch
  • Operation Sisterhood by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich